Red Alert — Play Free Online

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Red Alert asks you to respond only to red signals and ignore everything else. Because non-red signals are frequent, the habit of responding builds up and then has to be suppressed — the same structure as Go/No-Go, with a colour rule rather than a shape one.

How to play

Signals appear in a variety of colours.

Respond only to the red ones.

Responding to any other colour is an error.

The signal rate rises through the run.

Your score combines hits with your false alarm count.

What it actually trains

Selective response and inhibition. What separates good and bad scores is not detection speed but the ability to stop a response already underway.

Tips to score higher

Wait for the colour, not for the appearance. Reacting to movement guarantees false alarms.

Slow down slightly. The speed-accuracy trade-off here is steep and accuracy is worth more.

Hover rather than rest your finger.

Watch your false alarm count rather than your speed. That is the number the task is about.

Frequently asked questions

Why do I press on the wrong colours?

Your response starts before colour identification completes. The gap between the two is exactly what the task measures.

Is this the same as Go/No-Go?

Same paradigm with a colour rule. Go/No-Go is the standard laboratory form.

Does it get faster?

Yes, the signal rate rises, which shortens the window for inhibition.

Should I prioritise speed or accuracy?

Accuracy. A fast run with false alarms scores worse than a measured clean one.